Flint Residents Petition to End Use of the Flint River
Mayor Dayne Walling has reviewed a petition from groups for Flint to stop getting its drinking water from the river.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling has received around 26,000 signatures on a petition to end use of the Flint River for drinking water.
The city canceled service with Detroit Water and Sewerage Department in April 2014 and is currently obtaining water from the river until a Lake Huron pipeline is finished.
Walling says switching back to the Detroit water system would be too expensive.
“Every dollar that the City of Flint would send down to Detroit is money that we don’t have to invest in our own infrastructure system, and I think that is where the priority needs to be right now,” Walling says.
While Citizens have recently expressed concerns over high copper and lead levels in the drinking water, Walling says those issues could be developing in many locations. This includes the distribution system, the service line or indoor plumbing.
